Sri Lankan cricket legends Arjuna Ranatunga and Aravinda de Silva joined as special guests at the Indian Film Festival which kicked off on Monday with the screening of “83
.The film, which depicts India’s historic 1983 Cricket World Cup victory, drew a packed audience, with the 1996 Sri Lanka World Cup-winning icons in attendance.
Indian Film Fest 2025 inaugurated by Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Sunil Kumara Gamage and High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka Santosh Jha at PVR Cinemas, Colombo.
Speaking on the occasion Minister Gamage appreciated India’s film industry, particularly highlighting the contribution of films dedicated to sports.
High Commissioner underlined that the country-wide film festival is one of the first initiatives in the new year 2025 towards building stronger people to people connect between India and Sri Lanka.
Indian Film Fest 2025 will run across cities in Sri Lanka including Colombo, Badulla, Jaffna, Galle, Kurunegala, Matale, Matara, Monaragala and Nuwara Eliya throughout the week of 06-10 January.
The festival reached Monaragala with the screening of the films ‘Amma Kanakku’, ‘Vikram’ and ‘Jai Bhim’ at the Monaragala District Library Auditorium.
Governor of Uva Province Hon. J.M. Kapila Jayasekara along with India’s Consul General Shri Harvinder Singh inaugurated a Bharat Corner at the Library as well. A free Ayurveda Medical Camp was also organised for local residents.
Meanwhile, in Colombo, four screenings are scheduled for the day including ‘RRR’, ‘Aatam’, ‘Thinking of Him’ and ‘Reva’.
For the festival’s schedule in Colombo please write to dir.icc.colombo@gmail.com to avail free tickets. (Newswire)